Speak out my mind

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Is there a story behind each quote we like?

We usually feel very fascinated and impressed when we read a quote that expresses the thoughts and the feeling we have in a way that we usually fail to express. I think the power of these quotes is related to that when we read them we realize that there are other people who feels the same as we do, somewhere else on this earth there is a human being who thinks just like me, feels like me and have the courage to stand out and say these words to the world whether it is a part of a book, speech or even a story.

The connection we feel towards these words before we actually start to bond or feel the same towards the person who said these words is very inspiring. it doesn’t only give us the strength to stand up and speak but also it can help you express yourself, be vulnerable and open to others without fearing to be judged as these words are already out there even if they were said and adapted by only one person other than you.

In my Goodreads account, I have a repository of favorite quotes that inspired me and touched me throughout my readings. I’ll try to express my feeling towards these quotes and why did I choose and like them.

The order is arbitrary just as they were saved.

“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.”
― Mahatma Gandhi

This quote struck me the most as I continuously hear people complaining and whining about life not being fair and these stuff… so I usually tell them start by yourself even if you don’t think you are going to make a difference just try… then I read these words by Gandhi and it was put out there simply… by starting to change yourself… you’ll see how the world will change around you..

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“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”
― André Gide, Autumn Leaves

This is what is called acceptance, to accept yourself as who you are not what the other think who you are… not to try to please everyone you know… don’t build your world around the others… just be yourself even if the others hated you… its way much better than to be loved for the things that are not you… for not the real you but the one who fits the others expectation.

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“Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.”
― Albert Camus

This is the road map I’ve been following my entire life. I’m not obsessed with leading so don’t keep asking me for my wisdom and I’m not ignorant or stupid to follow you wherever you go or stick by whatever you say… simply… I just want to be friends…

“Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.

I just smiled once reading these words… like Camus were reading my life with his words…

“I have no idea what’s awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing.”
― The Plague

Sometimes you just don’t need to think so much or be hyper-conscious about things… sometimes there is emergencies and you need only to prioritize things… to act just now and think later…

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“Soldier and civilian, they died in their tens of thousands because death had been concocted for them, morality hitched like a halter round the warhorse so that we could talk about ‘target-rich environments’ and ‘collateral damage’ – that most infantile of attempts to shake off the crime of killing – and report the victory parades, the tearing down of statues and the importance of peace.
Governments like it that way. They want their people to see war as a drama of opposites, good and evil, ‘them’ and ‘us’, victory or defeat. But war is primarily not about victory or defeat but about death and the infliction of death. It represents a total failure of the human spirit.”
― Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East

Robert Fisk is my favorite journalist and I trust his analysis and the way he reports events and incidents. and as he said… war is about death and only death… its not about good or evil… or about winning… because there is one big looser through any world… which is Humanity…

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“When you start to live outside yourself, it’s all dangerous.”
― Ernest Hemingway, The Garden of Eden

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”

“If there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering.”

These quotes by Viktor Frank I liked through my reading for his book “Man’s Search for Meaning”… one of the fewest book that is a must read more than once… I was very inspired by this book and wrote a blog based on it.

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“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.”
― Mark Twain

This is because we usually praise power and strength over morality and thoughts.

“Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more.”

Yes Indeed, by admitting our faults and mistakes we not only take responsibility and try to avoid next time, but also will stop the blame game that we tend to play with the others and leave those who usually starts such games with nothing more to do.

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”

The sleepy conscience is funny but very tempting to get rid of the burden on our shoulders😛 books and good friends are the treasure that if you managed to have, you need nothing more.

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“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
― C.G. Jung

So true, as we can see ourselves truly and have a better self-awareness. Usually, what irritates us from others have an answer that lies within you, your way of thinking, your way of feeling and your way of behaving.

“Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darknesses of other people.”

This would lead for accepting, as once you accept yourself with both good and bad you can accept others as simply they are humans just like you and have good and bad things just as you do.

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“Only people who are capable of loving strongly can also suffer great sorrow, but this same necessity of loving serves to counteract their grief and heals them.”
― Leo Tolstoy

Only those who experienced true love with its ups and downs, strength and weakness, happiness and sadness can understand these words and can tell that love is not perfect as we human are not perfect but the strength of these feelings.. of love can help us to move on till the end.

“Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking…”

If only people would understand this.. if only…

“When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you’d like them to be.”

Love is all about acceptance, accepting the person you love with their good and bad, with their mistakes and good deeds and above all that as who they actually are, not what you expect them or think they should be.

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“Man only likes to count his troubles; he doesn’t calculate his happiness.”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground

We manage to remember pain and bad stuff that happens to us, we tend to forget small things that make us feel happy, memories of happiness stay but pain generates stains in our souls that make us continuously remember bad things instead of spending this time cherishing and acting upon happy thins.

This is so true, we usually escape to our dreams when the reality is unbearable and we can only escape bad things in life by sleeping… once you are finally happy, whether it is love or any thing good… you wish nights never comes and it is always day light… finally being awake is way much better than your dreams.